Traditionally, trade, growth and structural transformation is studied from a product perspective. This perspective lost focus due to large-scale offshoring trends with countries carrying out different activities in global value chains. As a result countries are trading tasks rather than products. This has consequences for our understanding of trade, structural change and development. This shift prompted a fresh approach — an exploration not of products but of task development. This element sets forth a pioneering perspective, describing trade, structural change, and development through the prism of trade in tasks. In this endeavor, we present new data to measure the occupation content of exports, novel analysis of trends in comparative advantage, and new patterns of structural change over levels of economic development. This work intends to invigorate scholarly discourse and enrich our understanding of trade and its transformative forces.